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Ultima Ultima 5 Redux - isometric graphics remake

SausageInYourFace

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utterly broken combat [...] at the speed of light.

Thats actually the key to why U7 is the best Ultima with the best combat.

Meanwhile, someone has begun working on U5 Redux, 'hopefully updating graphics and combat':



https://u5redux.wordpress.com/2019/09/13/example-post/

The cat’s out of the bag

Well I have been developing since the beginning of July and quietly uploading to GitHub. I decided to actually tell/show people what I have been up to.

You can read some interesting Q&A on Reddit here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ultima/comments/d2z1iu/ultima5redux_a_very_very_early_preview_i_have/

Or you can just watch the development update video here:

There will be more to come but this seems to be a good start.
 
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Bruma Hobo

Lurker
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
Messages
2,409
Why keep remaking Ultima V, by far the most polished, playable and fun game of the main series? Do something about Ultima 3 or 4, for fucks sake.
 

Cael

Arcane
Joined
Nov 1, 2017
Messages
20,287
utterly broken combat [...] at the speed of light.

Thats actually the key to why U7 is the best Ultima with the best combat.

Meanwhile, someone has begun working on U5 Redux, 'hopefully updating graphics and combat':


WTF is this??? That is the ugliest, shittiest U5 I have ever seen. The original graphics were way better. This is not an update. This is dragging U5 back to pre-Apple IIC stuff.

Frogger is better than this!
 
Joined
Jan 3, 2019
Messages
556
WTF is this??? That is the ugliest, shittiest U5 I have ever seen. The original graphics were way better. This is not an update. This is dragging U5 back to pre-Apple IIC stuff.

Frogger is better than this!

I feel like I'm looking at one of those autostereograms trying to figure out what the hidden image is.
 

Well This Is

Well This Is Fun Software
Developer
Joined
Sep 20, 2019
Messages
13
utterly broken combat [...] at the speed of light.

Thats actually the key to why U7 is the best Ultima with the best combat.

Meanwhile, someone has begun working on U5 Redux, 'hopefully updating graphics and combat':
WTF is this??? That is the ugliest, shittiest U5 I have ever seen. The original graphics were way better. This is not an update. This is dragging U5 back to pre-Apple IIC stuff.

Frogger is better than this!

OUCH! As the creator this does hurt a little bit. But also made me and my buddies laugh our asses off. This was the first flaming criticism and I kinda feel like I am in a special club now. I have a full time job and two kids, so I am just spending a few hours here any there on it. I had to make a decision to either keep my dev completely secret until it was polished or get some super early pics and vids out before it was even a game. I thought it would be fun to show off what I had done in my spare time. As any game dev knows - the game is going to look like shit until it it's done and polished. I agree that U5 is a masterpiece and very hard to improve on, but I think when I get to updating and cleaning up all 3D voxel models and hopefully speeding up combat then I will have something worth playing.

I have a blog at https://u5redux.wordpress.com/ if you want to follow progress (which it doesn't sound like you do lol) and a Github page with all the source code at https://github.com/bradhannah/Ultima5Redux3D.

Honestly, I don't take offense, I knew that some people would see it as silly - but I have otherwise got a lot of really nice encouragement. I proudly keep my 3 1/2 inch floppies of U5 on my desk for inspiration.
 
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Barbalos

Savant
Joined
Jun 14, 2018
Messages
200
Honestly I think it looks kind of neat Well This Is . It seems like an interesting project to undertake as well. Have you ever tried or heard of the other Ultima V remake, Lazarus? https://www.u5lazarus.com/
If so, do you have any opinion on it? I missed the original and was thinking of trying this Lazarus remake at some point, and you seem like you must be pretty into U5. I'll keep an eye on your project as well, and good luck.
 

Cael

Arcane
Joined
Nov 1, 2017
Messages
20,287
utterly broken combat [...] at the speed of light.

Thats actually the key to why U7 is the best Ultima with the best combat.

Meanwhile, someone has begun working on U5 Redux, 'hopefully updating graphics and combat':
WTF is this??? That is the ugliest, shittiest U5 I have ever seen. The original graphics were way better. This is not an update. This is dragging U5 back to pre-Apple IIC stuff.

Frogger is better than this!

OUCH! As the creator this does hurt a little bit. But also made me and my buddies laugh our asses off. This was the first flaming criticism and I kinda feel like I am in a special club now. I have a full time job and two kids, so I am just spending a few hours here any there on it. I had to make a decision to either keep my dev completely secret until it was polished or get some super early pics and vids out before it was even a game. I thought it would be fun to show off what I had done in my spare time. As any game dev knows - the game is going to look like shit until it it's done and polished. I agree that U5 is a masterpiece and very hard to improve on, but I think when I get to updating and cleaning up all 3D voxel models and hopefully speeding up combat then I will have something worth playing.

I have a blog at https://u5redux.wordpress.com/ if you want to follow progress (which it doesn't sound like you do lol) and a Github page with all the source code at https://github.com/bradhannah/Ultima5Redux3D.

Honestly, I don't take offense, I knew that some people would see it as silly - but I have otherwise got a lot of really nice encouragement. I proudly keep my 3 1/2 inch floppies of U5 on my desk for inspiration.
It has nothing to do with your skill or anything like that. It has wholly to do with your choice of graphics. The tileset you are playing with looks like something from Minecraft, and that is is just a plain crappy graphics set. A Duplo brick set looks better than Minecraft.

I'll bet that if you port it to some other half-decent graphics set, it will end up being better. There is no way Minecraft style graphics can be considered an update/upgrade to anything, and that was what I was going off about.
 
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Well This Is

Well This Is Fun Software
Developer
Joined
Sep 20, 2019
Messages
13
utterly broken combat [...] at the speed of light.

Thats actually the key to why U7 is the best Ultima with the best combat.

Meanwhile, someone has begun working on U5 Redux, 'hopefully updating graphics and combat':
WTF is this??? That is the ugliest, shittiest U5 I have ever seen. The original graphics were way better. This is not an update. This is dragging U5 back to pre-Apple IIC stuff.

Frogger is better than this!

OUCH! As the creator this does hurt a little bit. But also made me and my buddies laugh our asses off. This was the first flaming criticism and I kinda feel like I am in a special club now. I have a full time job and two kids, so I am just spending a few hours here any there on it. I had to make a decision to either keep my dev completely secret until it was polished or get some super early pics and vids out before it was even a game. I thought it would be fun to show off what I had done in my spare time. As any game dev knows - the game is going to look like shit until it it's done and polished. I agree that U5 is a masterpiece and very hard to improve on, but I think when I get to updating and cleaning up all 3D voxel models and hopefully speeding up combat then I will have something worth playing.

I have a blog at https://u5redux.wordpress.com/ if you want to follow progress (which it doesn't sound like you do lol) and a Github page with all the source code at https://github.com/bradhannah/Ultima5Redux3D.

Honestly, I don't take offense, I knew that some people would see it as silly - but I have otherwise got a lot of really nice encouragement. I proudly keep my 3 1/2 inch floppies of U5 on my desk for inspiration.
It has nothing to do with your skill or anything like that. It has wholly to do with your choice of graphics. The tileset you are playing with looks like something from Minecraft, and that is is just a plain crappy graphics set. A Duplo brick set looks better than Minecraft.

I'll bet that if you port it to some other half-decent graphics set, it will end up being better. There is no way Minecraft style graphics can be considered an update/upgrade to anything, and that was what I was going off about.

I love Minecraft LOL! I hear you, it's not gonna be for everyone. My first pass Voxel graphics are meant to be crude taking less than 5 minutes per sprite (of which there are 512). My intention is eventually get back to them and take another pass, cleaning them up and making them production quality. But in the end, they will still be voxel based (albeit higher resolution perhaps). If and when the time comes, and someone else thought they could deliver a better graphics pack - it will be surprisingly straightforward since it's open source.

Anyway, no ill will - I think we just like different things.
 
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Well This Is

Well This Is Fun Software
Developer
Joined
Sep 20, 2019
Messages
13
Honestly I think it looks kind of neat Well This Is . It seems like an interesting project to undertake as well. Have you ever tried or heard of the other Ultima V remake, Lazarus? https://www.u5lazarus.com/
If so, do you have any opinion on it? I missed the original and was thinking of trying this Lazarus remake at some point, and you seem like you must be pretty into U5. I'll keep an eye on your project as well, and good luck.

I have heard of Lazarus. I am absolutely blown away by the number of remakes - it makes for a very crowded field. My problem with Lazarus was it's requirement to own Dungeon Siege. I don't own it, and I am not even sure if a modern copy of it would work. I haven't played it, but I do love watching Ultima playthroughs. The sad part about making a game in the little spare time I have means I don't have much time to actually play games :(

Anwyay, all the best :)
 

Infinitron

I post news
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Messages
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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
More of Ultima 5 Redux:



https://u5redux.wordpress.com/2019/10/13/october-update/

October Update

Take a look at the latest video!!

Work continues slowly but surely on the project. A focus on improved visuals has gone well (but is far from complete).

Updates include:
  • more 3D voxels replacing legacy sprites
  • ambient lighting
  • twilight lighting
  • new daytime lighting
  • basic NPC dialog
For the Unity nerds out there – I have switched from built-in renderer, to light weight render pipeline (LWRP) and finally to high definition render pipeline (HDRP). This has been a really neat experience and continues to strengthen the visual quality.

Next up I expect to:
  • Complete all “standard” NPC schedules and textures
  • Actually open a door!
  • Start creating a permanent UI
 
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KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
Joined
Nov 23, 2016
Messages
12,865
You know, egg aka Max Breedon tried something similar ages ago in his online EUOtopia (it was optional to use and not forced). I have a few screenshots of when it was available. I would turn the camera angle into a near first person shooter and use my archer. It worked for the most part with some tweaking.

4UPwRSK.gif

70A5vvL.gif

PZf0bu3.gif

r2r3z15.gif

szn6bDT.gif

F44imB0.gif

zgddzwF.gif

eXMwu6b.gif

figTNeC.gif

PMMHfN4.gif

fynVPHq.gif

Hafx4wU.gif

L5blRQm.gif

ZUP3mLO.gif

jUgmdgQ.gif

i9NuItm.gif
 
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Viata

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Joined
Nov 11, 2014
Messages
9,885
Location
Water Play Catarinense
The Ultima 5 redux voxel one seems ok. A good way to replay such lovely game. Now the one above sucks, god damn that is ugly as fuck.
 

KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
Joined
Nov 23, 2016
Messages
12,865
Well, that was over a decade ago I believe and its first incarnation. It hasn't worked for a long time. I honestly prefer the regular top-down view u5 had. I don't mind tiles changed into something more modern like what Joshua Steele did for u4 though.
 

Well This Is

Well This Is Fun Software
Developer
Joined
Sep 20, 2019
Messages
13
First of all I have never seen the EUOtopia before - but I totally understand the visual style after diggin in with U5Redux. It's actually pretty close to the visual style I originally envisioned. That being said I have an updated November video for anyone interested in the progress of U5Redux. Progress is slow, but steady. All I ask is that everyone consider that the sprite/model work will be polished and tweaked in the future, in the meantime I focus primarily on core functionality.



https://u5redux.wordpress.com/2019/11/19/november-2019-update-video/

November 2019 Update Video

Novembers video includes some great updates. The project has really begun take shape and is actually starting to look like a game.

Note: All character data, inventory data and string data is gathered directly from actual Ultima save and data files

A few key changes/improvements in the November update

Visuals
  • Shifted to a classic isometric angle
  • Completed remaining sprite conversions to 3D model equivalents
  • Upgraded lighting engine
HUD
  • Implemented HUD with player characters, basic item quantities and current location (also added time into HUD!)
  • Implemented new Location tracking in HUD
NPC Chat
  • Reimplemented UI for NPC conversations with common look and feel
Signs
  • Implemented signs (no runes yet!)
Inventory System
  • Implemented basic inventory system
Basic Function
  • K-limb fences and mountains
  • O-pening doors
  • J-immy’ing doors
  • Space – pass time
  • G-et torches from wall
  • Porcullis drop at night
Next month brings on some new challenges I think. I will continue to work on equipping weapons and armour… you know honestly I’m not sure what else I will do – I just kind of work on the thing that most interests me that day or if I’m short on time, I just fix a bug and move on.
 
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index.php

Arcane
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
875


https://u5redux.wordpress.com/2019/12/24/holiday-update/

Holiday Update!

I have posted a new video highlighting some features I have shown on Twitter (ready/use) and some I haven’t (ZStats).

The focus of the update is the following:

  • Intro screen with FIRE animation
  • Implemented “U”se interface
  • Implemented “R”eady
    equipment interface
  • Implemented “N”ew Order
  • Implemented ZStats
    • Character Stats
    • Item Descriptions
There a number of work items that are far less visible as well. A lot of time has been spent learning the ins and outs of the Unity UI. I actually implemented the few new UI features with varying techniques depending on time of day, phase of moon and general mood

Also, I implemented the Ready/Use system first which emulates the original experience fairly close, focusing on keyboard input and a general text based interface. The ZStats was far more graphical and extended existing functionality.

I will undoubtedly spend the month wondering how or if I should re-implement the Ready/Use interface to match the aesthetic of the ZStats interface.

What’s Coming

Next up is a focus on more fundamental mechanics that actually make the game feel more polished and “more like a game”.
  • Finish adding sprites and descriptions for
    remaining ZStat items
  • NPC pathfinding and schedules
  • Time of day/lighting change
  • Save game progressions to disk
  • time of day
  • equipment/inventory changes
  • (Maybe) some basic non-combat spells
 
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Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
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Messages
97,232
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Ultima 5 Redux demo: https://u5redux.wordpress.com/2020/02/25/lets-walk-on-the-wild-side/

Let's Walk on the Wild Side!
2020-02-22-small.png

Coles Notes – there is a pre-alpha demo for you to try!

There is a pre-pre-alpha demo available for Windows and MacOS here: https://github.com/bradhannah/Ultima5Redux-Demos/blob/master/README.md! This version is not a game – it some core mechanics with endless bugs, but it’s something I hope you like it. Please follow the instructions, if you don’t then you will only be disappointed.

So what’s new?
Since last update I have added a number of features:
  • Improved pathfinding
    • tile weighting allowing NPCs to favour dirt paths and brick roads over grassy shortcuts
    • smarter wandering and collision correction
    • comprehensive simulation of NPC travel over full day for every single town, keep and every single NPC
  • Improved directory/save game selection menu which was previously very buggy
  • Klimbing down grates and falling through floors (think Blackthorne’s Palace!)
  • Mirrors now reflect and can be broken by Avatar
  • Fixed a ton of long standing bugs
    • NPCs getting stuck/deadlocked
    • “Bleeding tiles” on outside tiles of townes
    • Conversation bugs causing crashing with gold or item transactions
  • Upgraded to latest High Defintion Render Pipeline for Unity
  • Created first pre-alpha release
  • Performance improvements and optimizations (was at 2fps in Blackthorne’s castle before I did!)
  • Added Unit Testing framework (NUnit), writing some initial tests
  • Initially migrated all tasks to Trello and then GitHub Projects
  • Updated MindMap
This work is now all being tracked here if you want to follow along https://github.com/users/bradhannah/projects/1.

Interestingly the biggest chunk of time was spent tuning the pathfinding, taking it from “good enough” to “not too shabby!”. I was able to write a number of simulations which both exposed a TON of deadlocks, but also let me address them, solve them and then prove they were solved.

What’s Next?
Well if my project list is any indication then I will intend on focusing on the following (as always – subject to change):
  • Gradual sunrise and sunsets
  • Creating a tile override system that will allow overrides for “poorly guessed” floor tiles
  • ‘P’ush things around the maps
  • ‘T’alk to shopkeepers
  • Moongates!!
  • Rewrite of voxel caching system to prevent “double caching” annoyance
  • Complete population of remaining item and inventory descriptions for Z-Stats
  • Fix some “special NPCs” that do not have proper sprites
  • Add “conversation log” feature for recording NPC conversations
Mindmap Update
Also here is an updated and already out of date mindmap for those who like pretty pictures.

ultima-5-redux-mindmap-feb-24-2020.png
 

index.php

Arcane
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
875


https://u5redux.wordpress.com/2020/04/05/about-time-april-2020-update/

About Time! April 2020 Update

So What’s New?

I have already posted about NPC AI/Pathfinding, debug console and the Pre-Alpha Build, so I will stick to the newer items.
  • Full day/night cycles
  • Full moon cycles with onscreen widget
  • Moongates and Moonstones
    • Moongate travel by moon cycle
    • Cool “up/down” animation of moongate
    • Cool fade in/fade out when teleporting
    • Ambient glow of Moongates
    • Search and ‘G’et the moonstone
    • Bury the moonstone
  • ‘P’ush mechanic
    • Did you know chairs change direction when you push them? Now I do!
  • Complete Z-Stat descriptions
    • Highlighting of Reagents and Spell names for easier and quicker reference
    • Thank you to Ultima Codex who is attributed to many entries that were not in the original Book Of Lore
    • Look out for some great entries from the Book or Brad
  • Small enhancements include:
    • Fall down grates (even multiple grates like in Blackthorne’s castle)
    • Begun using light emitting materials in Unity to make things glow
      • Magic doors
      • Lava
      • Crystal balls
Some Details and Challenges

This was an interesting update because it seemed every time I wanted to implement some small component of the feature list then I would end up having to create some new system I had never considered.

Picking up a moonstone

So you want to ‘G’et a moonstone? Well first you ‘S’earch for it of course. But when you search in game for things that aren’t moonstones you could have stacks. The stacks do not translate well into the 3D game since they stack. So I had to create a queuing system that essentially puts them in a first in first out (FIFO) structure where the next item would appear as you ‘G’et the “exposed” item.

Next, typical inventory items are stored in a consistent way in the saved.gam file which makes it super easy to keep track – except moonstones are different. Moonstones are either “buried” or “not buried” and if they are not buried then I must assume they are in the Avatar’s inventory. This does not quite fit with the original games logic, and I still have to solve for it (but as I write this, I think I figured it out )

Moonphases

Frankly, I have gotten away with being fairly ignorant of exactly how the moonphases work, progress and why the hell there are two moons! Needless to say, there is some very dirty (yet functional!) code that abstracts those complexities. I even wrote (borrowed) some calculus to move the moons and Sun in a circle. May God have mercy on my soul if I need to update this code again!

3D Tiles in a 2D World

This is not a new problem to me – the original game only showed a single tile at a time, so if an item such as a moonstone was exposed, then it simply hid the tile underneath. Also, things like signs did not technically have a tile underneath.

I had implemented a guessing algorithm in the past to try and take a best guess at the tile underneath but it was often wrong (no-one’s perfect), so to combat that I implemented an unfortunate, but requisite tile override system that allows me override any tile on any map. Note: This could be used in the future for customization or to makes quality of life tweaks to the game (I’m look at you @Cambragol!).

The Core Library versus the Unity Game Code

As many are aware, this is technically two projects – the core game code called Ultima5Redux (soon to be UltimaVRedux) and Ultima5Redux3D. Because I am using a paid/proprietary module in Ultima5Redux3D, I am unable to share it publicly on GitHub. To make sure the community get’s as much value as possible, I have continued to move game logic to the core library – if done correctly, the Ultima5Redux3D will only be reacting core game libraries logic decisions, allowing anyone in the future to build ontop of the core library if they opted to (MIT license).

Thanks

Just wanted to say thank you to all those who actively participate in the project such as the great feedback and ideas from @Cambragol, the publicity from Dino and WTF Dragon and all the other dragons who give me encouragement on Twitter and Reddit. It is always appreciated!

Also thank you to the Ultima Codex wiki contributors! When filling out the Z-Stats descriptions I used the wiki exclusively for quick descriptions from the Book of Lore, and when they weren’t available then I quoted (and attributed) portions of an article directly.
 
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Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
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Messages
97,232
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth


https://u5redux.wordpress.com/2020/04/06/first-dev-vlog/

First Dev Vlog

Well, there isn’t much to say except that I have finally took the plunge and posted a Dev Vlog. This first vlog will introduce the tools I use to develop and offer a few antidotes while I’m at it. I talk about game engines, IDEs, art tools, editors and stuff.

In the future I will deep dive into particular subjects for those who are interested as well. In fact, I would love to hear about any particular subjects you may be interested in, in the future!
 
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Trojan_generic

Magister
Joined
Jul 21, 2007
Messages
1,564
Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming!
Looks like the Frogger music hasn't been implemented yet? I am afraid Lazarus remake was enough for me, though.
 

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